Rare girl has 81 teeth, exceeding the normal limit, doctors "give up"?

An extremely rare medical case has just been announced, shocking experts and the global community: an 11-year-old girl in Brazil was found to have 81 teeth in her mouth.

Shocking discovery: 81 teeth in an 11-year-old girl's mouth

This shocking information was published in detail by a group of doctors at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais state (Brazil) in the American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics in early July.

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The patient is a girl aged 11 years and 8 months. Initially, she came to the dentist because she wanted to remove the remaining baby tooth roots in her upper jaw. However, the first X-ray results shocked the doctors when they discovered that the girl had a total of 81 teeth. This number included 18 baby teeth, 32 permanent teeth and an astonishing 31 supernumerary teeth.

The girl's dental condition is called "multiple hyperdontia" - a very rare abnormal development in which the number of teeth growing exceeds the normal limit of an adult (normally only 32 permanent teeth, including wisdom teeth).

"Most polydontia cases have only a few supernumerary teeth, but having 31 teeth as in this case is almost unheard of without other complex genetic syndromes," the researchers emphasized. This further increased the uniqueness and challenge of the case.

Complex diagnostic process: Ruling out genetic syndromes

To provide the most comprehensive and accurate assessment, doctors performed a computed tomography (CT) scan. This technique helps determine the exact location, shape, and relationship of each supernumerary tooth to the surrounding jawbone, nerve, and sinus structures.

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In addition, one of the urgent tasks of the medical team is to eliminate the risk of the girl having genetic syndromes or systemic diseases related to polydontia, such as: cleft lip and palate, cleidocranial dysplasia, Gardner syndrome.

To completely eliminate these possibilities, the child underwent chromosome testing at the Cortes Villela laboratory. The results showed an inversion on chromosome 9 - an uncommon genetic variant.

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However, at present, there is still no official conclusion about the direct and clear connection between this chromosomal abnormality and the patient's abnormal number of supernumerary teeth. This shows that this is an "unprecedented" case and needs further research.

In addition, the girl's mother was diagnosed with thalassemia. However, doctors did not note a clear genetic link between the mother's medical condition and her daughter's polydontia.

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Treatment challenges and implications for medicine

In terms of treatment, the girl's 81 teeth pose great challenges to specialists, requiring multidisciplinary coordination and meticulous treatment planning. The removal of all supernumerary teeth must be carefully considered and calculated step by step to avoid causing damage to the jawbone, important nerves and adjacent anatomical structures.

Some unerupted teeth are also irregularly shaped, making it more difficult than ever to differentiate between permanent (real) teeth and supernumerary teeth. According to the study authors, treatment requires close coordination between many different specialties in the dental field.

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This includes maxillofacial surgery to extract teeth, orthodontics to correct the bite and align teeth, periodontics to ensure the health of the gums and tissues surrounding the teeth, and dental prostheses to restore aesthetics and chewing function if necessary.

The ultimate goal of the treatment process is to restore optimal chewing function, ensure the aesthetic factor for the patient's face and maintain a stable, healthy jaw and facial structure in the long term, helping the child to have a normal life.

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The case of 81 teeth has not only attracted the deep concern of global medical professionals but also received widespread attention from the online community. This is also a strong reminder of the importance of regular dental check-ups, especially for young children, to detect and promptly intervene in any dental abnormalities if any. Early detection of problems such as polydontia can help the treatment process to be simpler and more effective, avoiding complicated complications later.

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